retention numbers

Hi, guys

This is a passage from the book dedicated to transformations in Muslim education:

In Palestine, according to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), only 40% of young children have access to preschool education, and may even be lower. International organizations have been carrying the burden of the early childhood development (ECD) sector, especially in the areas of in-service teacher training and mentoring and preschool upgrading and renovations.This is a contribution to the international effort to increase enrollment and retention of young children in preschools as well as to improve the quality of services for young children in marginalized communities.

I am puzzled at what retention numbers might imply here: if only 40% of children have access to preschool education why to try to keep them there or these children drop out of these primary schools that is why the retention (keeping them there) is low or how do you grasp it?

Andrew1980 said:

these children drop out of these primary schools that is why the retention (keeping them there) is low or how do you grasp it?

This makes some sense. Because the children are in preschool, I assume that they are very young. They probably don't make any decisions about attending school or dropping out of school. Perhaps their parents have some reason for taking their kids out of preschool before they finish.

If the retention numbers are even lower than 40%, fewer than 40% of young Palestinian children complete preschool.